Feds Steal Ranchers Cattle in Armed Helicopter Raids: Feds attempt to rub out Family Farmers

In the latest attempt to rub out the family farm, the Federal Government is targeting a rancher in Nevada by sending in armed agents, armored vehicles and low-lying helicopters to steal the ranchers cattle.

Cliven Bundy, who has been fighting the federal government’s attempts to shut him down for the last 20 years, is in a bitter battle that just took a turn for the worse. Over the weekend, armed federal agents from the Bureau of Land Management stormed Bundy’s land, stealing over 500 of the rancher’s cattle.

The government claims the cattle were illegally grazing on government land; but Bundy, who has been a rancher all his life, says he’s been doing it this way for decades. In fact, his cattle are grazing on the same land that his father and father’s father used to raise their cattle.

The trouble started in 1993 when Bundy refused to pay the feds for the right to allow his cattle to graze on land that he claims has been in his family since the 1880s. His family actually owned the land before the Bureau of Land Management ever even came into existence; so how the federal government can now claim they own the land is a bit puzzling.

“We own this land,” he said, not the feds. He said he is willing to pay grazing fees but only to Clark County, not BLM.

“Years ago, I used to have 52 neighboring ranchers,” he said. “I’m the last man standing. How come? Because BLM regulated these people off the land and out of business.”

More